The upcoming stage musical Mary Poppins — based on the classic 1964 film and the P. L. Travers stories — will world premiere at the Bristol Hippodrome next fall.

Previews begin Sept. 15, 2004, for the new musical — a joint production of Disney Theatrical and Cameron Mackintosh — with an official opening set for Sept. 18. The musical's limited engagement at the Hippodrome will end Nov. 6; tickets go on sale Feb. 16, 2004.

Mary Poppins will then open in London's West End at the Prince Edward Theatre Dec. 15, 2004. Tickets for the West End run will be available to the general public on Feb. 29, 2004, by calling 011 44 20 7447-5458.

Although no casting has been confirmed, Variety recently reported that Alex Jennings and Janie Dee have been offered the roles of Mr. and Mrs. Banks. Various reports have also indicated that Laura-Michelle Kelly is likely to play the title role immortalized on film by Julie Andrews.

Mary Poppins will feature direction by Sir Richard Eyre, choreography by Matthew Bourne, design by Bob Crowley, a book by Academy Award winner Julian Fellowes (“Gosford Park”) and additional tunes (supplementing the original film score by Robert and Richard Sherman) by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Stiles and Drewe are the British songwriting team who composed the score for the Olivier Award winning musical Honk!.

* The beloved 1964 Disney film "Mary Poppins" starred Julie Andrews in the title role opposite the Bert of Dick Van Dyke. Directed by Robert Stevenson, the movie boasted a score by the Sherman brothers (Richard and Robert) and featured such tunes as "A Spoonful of Sugar," "Jolly Holiday," "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," "Feed the Birds," "Chim Chim Cher-ee" and "Let's Go Fly a Kite." Nominated for an Academy Award as Best Picture, the film garnered Oscars for Julie Andrews as well as those for Best Special Visual Effects; Best Film Editing; Best Score; and Best Song ("Chim Chim Cher-ee").